The New York-based global rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on says the appointment of Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva as Sri Lanka Army Commander negates all the Government’s pledges toward accountability, reconciliation, and reform.
The HRW said President Maithripala Sirisena has appointed a general whose forces have been credibly accused of war crimes as the Commander of the National Army, confirming the fears of those like Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera, who, back in March, supported the United Nations Human Rights Council’s extension of its 2015 resolution on Sri Lanka.
The extension, which Sirisena and other top officials openly opposed, seeks justice and accountability for violations committed during the 26-year civil war that ended in 2009.
“The sad reality is, then, that there are those who oppose any measure to achieve accountability and reconciliation, because they don’t want justice,” HRW quoted Minister Mangala Samaraweera. “They want victor’s justice.”
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Investigation on Sri Lanka documented laws of war violations committed by the Silva-led 58th Division in the conflict that could amount to war crimes.
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